Saigon Emoji

Emojis have become an indispensable part of modern communication, allowing people to easily convey their feelings and thoughts at the mere click of a button. In 2015, to the surprise of many, the “Face with Tears of Joy” emoji was even selected as Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year. Seeing this, Saigon-based designer Maxk Nguyễn had an idea: “Why don’t I mix those tech icons with symbols of daily life in Saigon?” This light bulb moment culminated into the Saigon Emoji project. From streetside fruit vendor selling baskets of Instagram likes and Facebook Reactions to old mailboxes with unread notifications and a street cleaner sweeping away the past hour’s internet browsing history, Nguyễn’s fun series embeds these familiar digital symbols and emojis with photos of Saigon locals as a way of presenting the city and its stories through a universal language.